I am biologist specialising in phylogeography, which is a research discipline focused on investigating the geographic distribution of genetic variation. I am interested in exploring the variety of influences on human evolutionary history. In particular I seek to understand past geographical migrations, adaptations to ecological conditions and interactions with human-specific parasites. During my masters research I worked on the human-facilitated transmission of malaria to Americas, under the supervision of Dr. Natalia Martinkova. This research required me to learn about the transatlantic slave trade, and this was how my interest began. The transatlantic slave trade enacted one of the most traumatic and yet significant migrations in human history. From a biological perspective, it not only shaped the genetic composition of the entire American continent, but it also introduced numerous diseases into the New World. I believe that my participation in the EUROTAST project will help to shed some light on some of the genetic legacies of the slave trade, thereby bringing forgotten stories back to life.

Website Information

EUROTAST was a Marie Curie Actions Initial Training Network (ITN), funded by the European Union under the Seventh Framework Programme, and coordinated by the University of Copenhagen. For more information CONTACT US.

Image acknowledgements

Unless otherwise stated, the historical images used on this website are taken, with kind permission, from The Atlantic Slave Trade and Slave Life in the Americas: A Visual Record by Jerome S. Handler and Michael L. Tuite Jr. The database is under copyright: 2013, Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and University of Virginia. Permission for reuse of these image must be sought directly from the authors above.
All EUROTAST photographs are copyright protected exclusive to EUROTAST Initial Training Network.